Chapter 13: Im Sol (2)

"No, seriously, why make it this complicated?"

Recently, an old artifact craftsman had offered to modify a mana assistant for my training use. I handed it over, only for it to return as an unpredictable ticking time bomb.

I spent a week analyzing it, but I had no clue how to use it.

If even I couldn’t make sense of it, other mages wouldn’t be able to touch it. Was that old man finally going senile? I couldn’t understand his reasoning at all.

"Huh? Where did it go?"

Last night, I decided it was too dangerous to leave lying around, since it wasn’t even usable for training. I left it on my desk, intending to dispose of it, but now, it was gone.

"Damn it. This is why I need to tidy up more often."

Aside from the door, the room was packed with bookshelves, scattered papers, and research notes strewn across the floor. Scraps of paper, filled with fleeting inspirations, littered the space.

Shwooo—

I quickly drew a magic circle to start organizing.

Books stacked on the floor returned to their places, and the scattered papers neatly arranged themselves onto the desk.

The loose scraps of paper flew into the trash can on their own.

"Seriously, where is it?"

Even though it was modified, it wasn’t just any item.

I had reversed the embedded magical formula in the mana assistant, lowering its mana sensitivity to the minimum and causing backlash whenever mana was drawn.

I even added a repelling attribute to overstrain the user’s body.

But unexpectedly, the synergy was too effective, and I ended up injuring myself during training.

In the end, I had taken it out to dispose of it and got sidetracked with other research, only to find it missing.

"Well, it must be around here somewhere. I never took it outside."

Knowing how dangerous it was, I wasn’t reckless enough to take it outside. It had to be tucked away somewhere, maybe under a bookshelf or another hard-to-spot place.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Professor, are you inside?"

"Yeah, come in."

One of my research assistants entered, looking surprised.

"Oh? What’s the occasion? You never clean your office. You always say a natural mess is best for research."

"I’m looking for something. Have you seen a bracelet that looks like a mana assistant?"

"Oh, the mana assistant on your desk? I put it back in the training equipment storage."

"... What?"

"I figured you’d forget about it while researching, and since there was a training session for the freshmen today, I organized it. Good job, right?"

"You... you idiot... Wait, did you say today? The training session is today?!"

"Yes? It should be happening right now. Why?"

Snap!

I immediately uncrossed my legs, pushed past the assistant, and sprinted toward the Mana Research Building.

"Professor! Where are you going? You still have paperwork to finish! Are you running away again?!"

"Damn it, that clueless assistant."

The Mana Research Building wasn’t far. Running would be faster than preparing a teleportation circle.

The standard mana assistant and the modified training version looked almost identical.

Anyone paying close attention would notice some inconsistencies, but professors and assistants wouldn’t examine it closely, and students, unfamiliar with the device, wouldn’t notice at all.

If a student happened to wear the modified mana assistant... the consequences could be catastrophic.

Hospitalization due to mana circuit damage? That would be the best-case scenario.

The worst case? Permanent mana loss or death.

I couldn’t blame the assistant. I had a history of borrowing artifacts for research and forgetting to return them, leading to multiple warnings.

In the end, the fault was mine for leaving such a dangerous item out carelessly.

’Please, let nothing happen.’

I burst through the entrance of the Mana Research Building. The freshmen’s training session was on the first floor—easily within sight.

Bang!

I slammed the classroom door open with enough force to break it.

I should have seen the students’ faces staring back at me. Instead, they were all crowded at the back of the room.

"What’s going on?"

"Yaze Orpheus collapsed! Damn it, I can’t see with all these people in the way."

’Yaze?’

I remembered him from the mage specialization class. I had even taken notes on him.

’If only he had no talent at all!’

If he had no ability, he wouldn’t have resisted mana backlash. But fighting it without proper control could lead to disaster.

At least if he had just passed out, there would be time for emergency treatment.

"Excuse me! Let me through!"

"Huh? Oh, Professor Im Sol?"

Pushing through the crowd, I finally saw him collapsed on the ground.

The first thing that struck me was his appearance. I had noticed it before, but seeing it again was different.

I had met many handsome people in my life, but at this point, every other guy I had seen before was an ugly squid compared to him.

Then I saw his face contorting in pain, his breathing ragged as he groaned.

’He’s still conscious?’

From the outside, he looked like he was about to die. But inside, a desperate battle was taking place as he struggled to control his rampaging mana.

And it was at an incredibly high level. I had never seen this kind of mana control before.

’His mana flow... it feels strange.’

His technique was different from conventional mana manipulation.

It wasn’t rigid or systematic, but instinctual and dynamic...

’Wait?’

A tingling sensation ran through my chest—something like an epiphany. A state of hyperfocus that only happens right before breaking through a new threshold. The only time I had felt this before was during my own awakening.

But just as I was about to grasp it, Professor Han Jaeyoung moved to touch Yaze’s body.

"What do you think you’re doing?!"

"Professor Im Sol? Why are you here? Perfect timing. We need to administer emergency treatment to the patient. Time is of the essence, please assist us."

"No, don’t touch him."

"What are you saying? This student’s mana circuits are completely disrupted. We need to act now."

"I said, don’t touch him!"

Introducing external mana at this point would only interfere. This is why incompetent professors should be fired from Primrose.

I shot a glare at the skeleton-like professor before turning my attention back to Yaze.

But the strange tingling sensation I had felt before had already disappeared.

Opportunities like this don’t come easily, and that crazy professor ruined it. Frustration welled up, but now wasn’t the time to be angry.

’If this continues... I can’t be certain.’

His mana control was undoubtedly excellent, but the opposing force was brutal. The modified mana assistant was continuously causing his mana to run wild and damaging his body.

The more efficiently he drew mana, the stronger the backlash, and the more his body suffered.

Was there any way to help him...

’Wait, is he getting faster?’

His mana control had definitely improved. His level was rising right before my eyes.

"He’s unconsciously evolving...?"

"Excuse me? Professor Im Sol, what do you mean?"

He was realigning his tangled mana circuits, forcefully opening blocked pathways.

Mana was rapidly circulating through his body as he seized control of the runaway energy.

"Is this kind of mana control even possible?"

If he could manage this level of magic manipulation without formulas...

No, perhaps formulas weren’t even necessary to begin with? Have we been working off the wrong premise all along?

The core of modern magic theory was being overturned before my eyes.

I re-entered a state of hyperfocus, trying to grasp a new breakthrough—

Then, Yaze’s eyes opened.

"Ah..."

An involuntary sigh of regret escaped me.

Just a little longer! If I had just a little more time, I could have seen a new horizon!

"How... how did you do that?!"

"Ugh!"

***